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“Why is Auntie acting like this is her house?” Kai asked Allie, who shrugged.
“You know better than I do that woman does exactly what she wants when she wants.” They shared a grin.
“Why do you say that?” Jun asked, curious.
“She’s known to speak Hawaiian and pretend not to know English if she doesn’t like what’s being said,” Allie said. “She did that to me when I first moved back to the island and wanted to sell my share of the coffee plantation.”
“She did?”
“She’s done worse. But it’s because she always knows best,” Kai said and winked at Jun.
Jun tried to fight off his charm but was failing miserably. She found instead of making her like him less, meeting his family made her like him more. He’s a playboy who doesn’t take anything seriously. But looking at his warm brown eyes, she had a hard time believing it.
“Come in!” Aunt Kaimana prodded the group again. “Dallas, you have work to do on that grill!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dallas drawled, standing at attention.
Dallas, Allie and Po went inside, and Jun followed them. Kaimana stopped Kai right behind her at the door. Jun didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but as she’d just turned the corner, she wasn’t out of earshot and overheard their conversation.
“When you going to quit this crazy surfing? He’e nalu!”
“Auntie...” Kai breathed a long sigh.
“Thought you were going to retire!”
“I’m not ready yet. I’m going to do it whether or not Jun helps me, and if she helps me, then I have a better chance of not drowning.”
Kaimana made a disapproving sound in her throat. “You stubborn. Too stubborn.”
“That’s why you love me.”
Jun heard Kaimana chuckle and shuffled away from her eavesdropping point, feeling even more that she ought to take the job, despite her reservations. If she could help him, shouldn’t she try?
“Can I get you a drink?” Allie asked, swinging by, holding a pitcher of sangria.
Just then Dallas slid his arms around his fiancée’s waist, giving her a hug from behind that made her squeal.
“Dallas McCormick! You’re going to make me spill.” Dallas lay a light kiss on her shoulder, her aqua-blue sleeveless sundress showing off her collarbone. He shrugged, unconcerned. The easy way those two moved together made Jun think they were made for one another. She felt a pang suddenly. She’d like to have that.
Only it wasn’t going to happen. Not while she had Po to think about. He was more important.
“Jun? A drink?” Allie held up the pitcher.
“Oh, no, thank you.” Jun wasn’t going to drink, not when she had to drive Po home. She watched her little boy as he trailed Dallas to the barbecue out back, where he was shown the fine art of flipping a steak.
Jun saw Jesse at the kitchen counter slicing mangos. “Can I help?” she asked, walking to her.
“Oh, no, I’m fine, but I’d love the company. So, Kai thinks you can help him. He says you’ve got a way to rehabilitate the knee.”
“I don’t know about that. I think I can help him, but I’m just a little uncomfortable with...”
“Working for an egomaniac who parties all the time and thinks he’s always right?”
Jun gaped, but Jesse laughed and then Jun felt safe laughing, too. “I guess so!”
“He’s my brother, and I love him, but he’s a mess.” Jesse swept sliced mangos into a big bowl and then wiped her hands on a nearby tea towel. “He’s also bossy, so don’t let him boss you around too much. If you don’t want the job, you don’t have to take it, even if he bugs you to death.”
“He said if I came to dinner and still didn’t want the job, he’d leave me alone.”
Jesse quirked an eyebrow. “And you believed him?”
Jun laughed. “No, I guess I didn’t.”
“Are you two talking about me?” Kai asked, popping over and stepping between them. “Jun, don’t believe anything this girl says. She’s still holding a grudge about the time I borrowed her bike.”
Jesse added some more fruit to the bowl and then grabbed a spoon to stir it in. “Crashed it, you mean! I don’t know how you bent the front wheel, but you did!”
